Friday, March 30, 2012

I can't believe how fast the months go by lately, I never seem to have enough time to do what I had planned, so maybe I need to plan for holidays a year in advance, lol.

First I will announce the winner of the giveaway. Thank you for all of your ideas. I like the idea of wonky blocks, and fussy cutting too, I think I should be able to get at least 3 quilts with the material, so I can try different ones. The winner is lucky number 2, Lynn. Please email me with your choice of pattern from my ecrater site.

I was going through old photos in my san disk and found some Easter photos of my family and this one definitely goes on the worst dresses list;) These were from old slides, so I will have to go through them again, someday and do some work on them, so I can keep them for my kids.

Then I was looking at this one. I remembering thinking how proud we were to get out new Easter dresses, a big thing in our house and I always loved black. I am in the middle and my sister Candy on my left, our friend Beverly in the black sweater.

Then, for the first time, I realized something, my dress is the same one, as the one my sister Wendy is wearing in this photo, so much for me getting a new dress, lol. My mother was always altering things for us and being the youngest, I got all the hand me downs. You can see the dress pattern coming from under my sister's coat.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Last week I was the lucky winner of a fabric giveaway hosted by Henry Glass Fabrics. It was a surprise giveaway so I had no idea what they would send me. I loved the fun Down Under fabric and I really was surprised when, that is what I got, but also the whole bundle of the fabric line, wow!

There is at least a yard on each and more on others, so I will be able to make quite a few charity quilts with this and it will be so fun for the kids that receive it. I have some ideas for quilts, but I would love your ideas or maybe links to patterns that I could use. I many design some around the fabric. Leave a comment on this posting and I will pick a winner on Friday night. The winner will get their choice of one of my epatterns or booklets.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Sometimes I like to make things, just to try it out and mini quilts are a great way to do that.
I was browsing for hints on piecing and found this blog with a tutorial on making triangles, so I just had to try it. You can find the tutorial at That Girl That Quilt and I used the first method. It was fun and easy to do and lots of possibilities. Of course I cannot sew a straight line if my life depended on it, lol.

As you can see, my points are off and my border is wonky, but that seems to be my style lately;) I guess you could call it my antique Easter quilt. It measures about 8" x 10" and the individual half square blocks are 1 1/4". I machine pieced and the rest is hand sewed. When it was done, I used watered down walnut spray, to antique it.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Last week I was one of the lucky winners of a giveaway hosted by Jill of Untie the Ribbons. Jill makes wonderful folk art characters and wool textile pieces. Her blog is worth following, she always has wonderful ideas and inspiration for fiber artists.

This is what I won, a wonderful folk art bird. Is this not the most wonderful piece. So much detail and such a unique creation, I really love it and have it hanging so my guests will see it when they enter the house.

Today I took a trip the the folk art quilt store. I realized I needed some light neutrals for backgrounds and fillers, so I picked some fabrics out, that I thought would work with different types of projects. The ones on the right are going into a civil was piece. I will be doing some ladies with appliqué and civil war print dresses, so these colors will go into the background. There is blue in the print, and that will work well with the americana theme.

And then I worked on some new blocks, this time I got them right and like the fabrics I used. So, here are four of them and one design that can be made with them. They look a bit brighter with the flash.The middle blocks are black.

Friday, March 23, 2012

I finally got motivated to do some charity blocks, considering the deadline is looming, but my nerves have been a bit frazzled lately so the nervy pain, makes it hard to do work that requires perfection. So, I made a block and for some reason it came out too small and the block was off, this one is too small.

Then I thought, what if I make it larger, then I can cut it down, the one on the right is too large. Not sure if it can be cut down, my brain can't think that way, right now, lol. So, this block is too big.

The block on the left is just right, the right size and the blocks sit right on the edges, I was so happy to finally figure it out and be able to just keep going. Then I realized, something didn't look right, I have two blocks in reverse, ugh, so guess this one is not good, either. The moral of this story is; it is a fairytale if I think I could ever make a perfect block, lol.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I decided to make the other pattern that I won from Valerie of The Wooden Acorn. I made it into a mini quilt and on mine, I added a little kitty. It is a fun pattern to do and worked up quickly and I think it would be nice to make a few to give to friends. If you are looking for something new to do, Valerie has some wonderful patterns at her Etsy Store.

On the home front, the guys are almost finished with the porch and that will be it, for them. Bill is doing the front siding, since that is cedar. The store was able to match the siding, exactly, so now all I have to do if figure out what color to make the door.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Last week I was one of the lucky winners of Valerie's giveaway. Valerie of Wooden Acorn offered 3 designs to 3 winners and not only did she send me the design, but another one I had liked and some sewing goodies to use for my pieces. I am amazed at her generosity, and the extra goodies. If you love primitive and working with wool, visit Valerie's Etsy Store, she has lots of wonderful patterns that I have my eyes on.

And of course I had to make the chick piece, right away, perfect for spring. I made it into a little wall hanging and added a few of my own touches. I made hay for the basket, by unwinding jute strands, then weaving them into the empty spaces. I love the house piece, as well, that is something I can make a few of, as gifts.

The pattern is by Buttermilk Basin Designs. I realized I forgot to decorate the other butterfly, but I was not pleased with the lines I made on the first one, so I will change that and add dots.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

I was so upset that I ruined my piece, so I worked some more on it, a bit of bleach stick and a few washing in dish detergent and I washed all the red out. I stained it more heavily, thinking the red would remain and that would cover it, but I guess I didn't need so much. Now it is very prim, which is ok too. The threads are from Laura at ArtFabrik and she will be doing a posting about her threads and bleed throughs, so if you are not already, Laura's site is worth adding to your blogger list. She has lots of wonderful tutorials and inspiration. The design can be found at Elin's Kreative Side, in the side bar that lists freebies.

And...I worked some more on my Noah's ark rug. There was not enough in the kit to fill in the background, so I am using some of my tan/browns which are darker than the photo that comes with the kit, but still works nicely. The design is by Tonya of Mad Hen Primitives.

Today I had the fun of chasing two kitties who made a great escape. The builders didn't shut the doors all the way in the basement and moki, who is too smart for his own good, opened them. Luckily I was on the porch when I saw two black kitties go running across the yard. Moki was easy to get, he stays still, but Izzy kept running, so I had to crawl through some bushes to get her. Other than that, she plays the sweet little kitty who likes to sleep in objects not meant for cats.

Monday, March 12, 2012

I was so happy to finish this piece and love how it came out. Then I decided to give it a light antiquing, big mistake. I used hand dyed threads that I won from Laura of ArtFabrik and I love how the larger thread looked in the flowers and the beautiful variations in the shades. But... I wasn't thinking, they are hand dyed and red shades in there and yes, I did it again, ruined another piece.

I made this for a friend for a friend and spring piece, so wanted spring colors, now if I can figure out how to fix it. The design is a free design by Elin's Kreative Side. If you scroll down the page a bit, you will find a label column with freebies.

I also went shopping this weekend, and while trying to find the quilt store, that moved, I found a new one, lol. They have lots of wonderful civil war and Judy Rothermel prints. I couldn't resist the civil war squares, fun fabric to quilt and use for stuffed kitties and things. The red print was just too pretty, not to get for a future project;)

Then I stopped at the pfaff store to get some needles, that is all I wanted and walked out with a new book. I wasn't going to get it, but my husband made me buy it;) It is Bonnie's Garden by Bonnie Sullivan and it is well worth the price. A lot of beautiful projects and rug hooking and a punched piece, so it will not be sitting on the shelf. A few kitty patterns too, of course I will be doing those.

I am thinking of making this piece first, nice for spring and I need some new decorations.

And I really love this one, I will make that later when I get better at piecing and my brain is working better, I am making too many dumb mistakes lately and forgetting, do not get dyed reds, wet!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Last month I was the lucky winner of a blog hop giveaway hosted by Lynn Krawczyk of Fibra Artysta. Lynn does wonderful art pieces and also holds classes, her blog is definitely worth a visit for inspiration. I won a beautiful piece of her hand printed cloth. I got to choose and I picked "Birds on a wire". I love the pattern and I think it will make for some beautiful art pieces, so I have my thinking cap on. You can see Lynn's fabrics at her Shop. I also want to thank Judy for hosting a giveaway on her blog, Judy has some wonderful eye candy and tutorials, so if you love art quilting, you will love Painted Threads.

This is going to be fun to design around, lots of possibilities.

Then I had to decide what UFO to work on next and since I am ready for spring, I decided it was time to finish my dog in the garden piece. I will be adding embellishing stitchings and then I have to decide how to quilt the background, any suggestions? I want to keep it simple, but look nice, maybe some green threads a bit darker than the background and some echo quilting coming off of the appliqués to give movement. Not a great photo, hopefully I can get one with the true colors, the background is a beautiful shaded green.

I had to lighten it up to get rid of the orange shades it had, but this way you can see the appliqués better. If you like some of the appliqués, you can find some of the bugs and other wonderful freebies at Wee Folk Art. She was nice enough to make me the grasshopper to put in my piece.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

I made another item that was gifted to me by a friend; Sharon of Moosecraft.
The design is by Goos Nest and called Antique Chalk Rabbit. The original had a black rabbit, but I went with DMC linen thread, color 4145. I really like how it comes out in animal pieces.

It was quilt the piece to punch, so took me longer, but well worth it. After I punched it, I used walnut ink to age it and finished it off with a light green rope twine.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

My friend Kelley sent me some of her older patterns and one had a doll with some bunnies. I wanted to make the bunny, love the shape and perfect for sitting on shelves or baskets. I used chenille for mine and made his ears bigger and floppy. The original had shorter, stick up ears.

Chenille is not easy to sew on the machine, especially the thick ones, but I love how it looks on this piece.
I made him grungy, to look like an old, well loved bunny and I do love him, lol. The pattern is by Indygo Junction, called Mildred and Murphy.

His nose got lost since I used a dark tan thread, so maybe I will dab a bit of java stain to darken that up.
The eggs next to him, are made from cheap plastic eggs, that I sanded down, the lay fabric over them with decoupage. Messy, but easy to do and fun for the kids too.

Friday, March 2, 2012

A friend sent me a box of kits that she no longer wanted and one was this rabbit kit from Buttermilk Basin.
It was really fun to do and I changed out the background and used one of my wools that had specks of color that was perfect for an Easter piece.

The grass is a bit crooked, but I can fix that later, for now, it is good enough;)